Hackers Use Ransomware to Lock Up Hotel Guests in the Alps and Demand 1,500 Euros

Hackers pestered the journey of several people last week to the luxurious Romantik Seehotel Jägerwir in the Alps as they took control of the locks and locked the guests in their rooms.

According to the newspaper The Local, guests could not enter or leave their rooms during the attack, nor was it possible to program new keys. The reservation system and the reception system were also disabled by this ransomware. This attack left the hotel with a serious problem as they could not program new keys for arriving guests.

The attackers requested a payment of 1,500 euros in Bitcoin to free the guests. The hotel claims that it had no choice but to pay and the incident was resolved quickly.

Once the money was transferred, all the systems went back to work. However, the hotel has reported that the attackers had left a back door to re-access the systems.

Austrian police scoured the team for possible back doors for which the attackers could re-hijack the systems, but found none. The owner of the Jägerwirt does not want to play, so he has announced an upcoming renovation that will reintroduce unconnected systems in some elements of the hotel, including locks.

The hotel has replaced its systems and has disconnected certain essential systems from the Internet to prevent them from being attacked. In addition, the hotel will once again use traditional locks and physical keys on its doors, just like when it opened its doors for the first time 111 years ago.

Jessie is a full-time member of the HiTechgazette of writing team specializing in the news. In addition to everything tech-related, he also loves basketball and is a self-proclaimed pizza expert.
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Contact Number : 01745-245878